Minutes
by penguibunny
Summary: AU Where Percy Jackson is a barista at a coffee shop and slowly falls in love with a blond grey-eyed customer who comes every Wednesday. Percabeth. T just in case. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't own Percy Jackson. Got this idea off of Pinterest. Please enjoy!**_

I was writing a name on a cup when I saw her. She was beautiful, with blond princess curls and a wonderful smile that seemed to be smiling at something far in the distance or in her head. And her eyes. They were grey and looked as though they could bore into your soul.

Half-a-minute later, I finished writing and handed the guy his cup. He grunted his thanks and the girl who could be nothing but a princess came up fifteen seconds later. "I'd like a small iced coffee, please." She ordered. "Coming right up," I smiled. I took out a cup and a sharpie. "What's your name?" "Annabeth." "And how do you spell that?" Now, I don't always ask that. Usually, I will guess. If you are annoying me, I will misspell your name on purpose.

"A-N-N-A-B-E-T-H" What a lovely name, I thought to myself. To my surprise and alarm, she smiled, "Thank you!" I'm sure I must have turned bright red. She giggled. I got her coffee in two minutes and gave it to her. "Thank you, have a nice day," I told her in a little less monotonous voice than usual. She smiled, "You too!" The princess who was now known as Annabeth went to sit at a table. Three minutes later, the Beans, and Water, which was a surprisingly cool name, had reached a slow point in the day.

I had nothing to do for at least six minutes, so I stared at her. Not creepy staring, but mostly out of the corner of my eye. I looked away whenever she happened to glance at me and waited a few minutes before gazing at her loveliness again. This happened for over a period of five minutes. After working at a coffee shop for five years, you started to notice things about customers. For example; if someone hasn't drunk their coffee in over five minutes, especially if it's not hot, they're waiting for someone. If they wait for more than fifteen minutes, chances are, whoever they're waiting for is not coming.

Fifteen minutes and five orders later, I snuck a glance at the girl who could be an angel. She was still all alone and was looking worried and fidgeting with her hair. She had a decisive frown on her face; one with her eyebrows was raised and her mouth pulled into a tight smile. I left for a moment (no more than three minutes) and pulled aside my manager.

"Can I give away free cookies to frowny faces? I asked. She smiled and thought about it for 10 seconds. "As long as you put up a sign next to the donation jar that reads, "Free Cookie Hour! Please donate some of the money you are saving to children in need." My face lit up and I exclaimed, "Thank you!" "Why are you doing this?" She asked, puzzled. My cheeks felt hot as I told her. She smirked. "You like her!" "No, I don't!" I exclaimed adamantly. "I just want to make her feel better." I don't think she bought it, but she let me be.

For the next hour, the place was packed! People donated a lot. It was great for business as well as people would other things. It was ten minutes till Annabeth noticed the free cookies. She got in line, and it was another ten minutes till she came up. "Hello, again." "Uh, hi," I replied nervously, my cheeks turning red. "Hi." She repeated. "Hi." She giggled, "Are you gonna get me my cookie?" My eyes were huge. I quickly handed her a cookie and gave it to her. "Have a nice day!" "You too!"

After the cookie boom ended, Annabeth came up to me for the third time that night. "Thank you for the free cookie." "Uh, you're welcome." "Why'd you do it for me?" I stared at her for all of ten seconds. "I know you did," she told him, "because you were staring at me and you left for a minute and came back with cookies." "Well, I left for two minutes and thirty-seven seconds, but who's counting?"

 ** _Hope you enjoyed! Please review!_**


	2. Chapter 2

The beautiful angel stared at me incredulously for 7 seconds. "You're not wearing a watch. How did you figure that?" So, I began to tell her. "I have ADHD and so it makes time go by very slowly when I'm bored. I started counting the seconds and now it comes automatically. For example, we've been talking for two minutes and fifty-four seconds so far."

"Wow." "I know." "So, why did you offer free cookies?" I turned bright red. "Uh, well, I saw you waiting for someone, saw that they weren't coming and decided to make you feel better, but discreetly." Annabeth gave me a huge smile. "Why, thank you," she said, looking at my nametag, "Percy Jackson," I smiled as well. "You're quite welcome Annabeth..." I trailed off realizing I didn't know her last name. "Chase." She said. "My name is Annabeth Chase." Little did I know, but I would be chasing her for a long time.

She left, and the next Wednesday (168 hours later, but who's counting), she came back, but she wasn't alone. Annabeth was coming in with a sandy-haired young man who looked a bit older than her. There was something about him that I didn't like. And no, it wasn't that he was with the girl of my dreams. Maybe a little, after all, she was and still is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Anyway, after five minutes, they both came up and ordered.

"Oh hi, Percy!" She said when she saw me. I couldn't believe that she'd remember my name. "Hello, Annabeth!" I replied. The sandy-haired guy looked between us. "You guys know each other?" He asked. Annabeth nodded and said, "I'll tell you later, Luke. Let's go sit down." I watched as they went back to the table. They were there for 34 minutes and 26 seconds. She got up, he got up, they left holding hands. I looked out the window and saw him kiss her. I felt awful. Of course the one girl who was both nice and pretty had to have a boyfriend.


	3. Chapter 3

Next Wednesday, (160 hours later) Annabeth came in with a pretty Cherokee girl. The girl was stunning, but nothing compared to Annabeth. I had

started to develop a crush on her. They ordered, she said hi, introduced her friend Piper, ordered her usual small iced coffee, and sat down.

They talked for eight minutes and twenty seconds, then Annabeth's phone started ringing. She answered, talked for two minutes and fifty-nine

seconds, then hung up, looking upset. I moved a little closer in order to hear them. "-he said he couldn't make it on Friday!" Annabeth's angelic voice

exclaimed mournfully. "What!" Piper, whose voice wasn't as beautiful as Annabeth's, made you want to hear it again. "That's the seventh time in

three weeks!" "Eighth time." "He doesn't deserve you! If you want my advice, you should leave him!"

I moved still closer, this conversation had been going on for two minutes seven seconds and it was getting even more interesting. "I can't leave him!"

Annabeth's voice rang out. "I love him!" "Do you?" The other girl asked. "I mean really? Does he make you happy? More importantly, does he love

you?" The girl of my dreams started crying. "I don't know! He tells me he loves me, but he 'can't make it' so often, I'm suspicious." "With good

reason!" Piper exclaimed. "We should spy on him."

Piper glanced my way and saw me staring. I blushed and turned away, but she got up with Annabeth in tow. "Hey handsome, wanna help us?" She

asked, twirling a strand of hair in her fingers. If I had never met Annabeth, I might have fallen for it, but I was staring at Annabeth, whose face was

covered in her hand. Piper had done this before apparently. "I'm sorry," I told her, smiling. "You're not my type." The girls both laughed. Piper looked

at me again. "Annabeth, why don't you go to the car?" Annabeth went off, smiling and mouthing me good luck.

"I know you have a thing for my friend." I blushed. "Don't pretend you don't. I've seen the way you look at her." I sighed. "What do you want?" "You

were listening in. We need to spy on Annabeth's hopefully soon to be ex-boyfriend. Do you have a camera?"


	4. Chapter 4

**_Warning. Things are gonna get a lot darker._**

Fifty-eight hours later, the two girls and I were hiding in the bushes in Luke's yard. "Remind me why I'm doing this again?" I asked. "Because our phones are broken and you have a camera," Piper said matter-of-factly. Annabeth smiled, reminding why I was here. "Thanks for being here." She told me. I smiled back. All of a sudden, Piper squeals, "He's here!"

Just as he was coming up the driveway, I thought of something that made my heart sink. "Um, Annabeth?" I asked. "Yes, Percy?" "Before this time, it's been seven times he couldn't make it, right?" She looked confused and nodded. "And when did he start being too busy?" "About three weeks ago." My blood ran cold. "We've got to get out of here!" I whispered loudly. They looked at me. We looked back at Luke, and he was dragging a passed out drunk girl out of his car. "What's the matter, Percy?" Piper asked. Annabeth was staring at what was going on.

I didn't say anything but kept watching and filming. I decided it was a very good thing I'd come along. After a few minutes, a white van pulled up. A man stepped out, his back towards the camera. "You've got the girl?" He asked. Annabeth had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming. "I got her," Luke said. They put her in the back of the van. "This is the last one," Luke told him.

"One more." The man told him. "Her." Luke looked terrified. "Not her," He pleaded. "Anyone but her." Piper and Annabeth had to hold me back. I wanted to kill that man so badly. He meant Annabeth! "Fine." The man said, sounding pleased. Something told me that the next time would not be the last time. "Her friend. The Cherokee." Piper let out a muffled scream. They both turned toward us. My heart froze. Suddenly, an owl hooted right next to me. They turned away. As soon as we could, we got out of there. I did manage to get a good shot of the van's license plate.

When we were safe in my car, we were silent for a few minutes. "What just happened?" Piper exclaimed. "Looked like sex trafficking and blackmailing," Annabeth replied. I looked at her. "Blackmailing?" "The other guy didn't give Luke any money and he looked like he wanted to stop." We stared at her. "I'm not saying that he's any less guilty. I'm just saying that he might have been blackmailed." We sat there for a few more minutes. "We've got to report this to the police!" Annabeth exclaimed.


	5. Chapter 5

Three hundred and thirty-six hours later, I was at the coffee shop about to get off. We'd told the police all we knew and Luke was arrested. I was still a bit shaken by what I'd experienced. As I wrote down a name on a cup when Annabeth and Piper came in. Annabeth was just as beautiful as ever. I couldn't help but stare at her. "Hello?" The customer in front of me said, annoyed. "Are you going to make my coffee?" My face turned bright red. "Sorry about that," I said quickly.

I made his coffee and saw that the next person in line was Annabeth. "And you would like a small iced coffee," I said before she could say a word. She laughed. "I guess I do order that a lot." I smiled back. "You do." I wrote her name on the cup and made her coffee. Then, I gave her the cup and took Piper's order. Three minutes and forty seconds later, Piper had her coffee and they still hadn't left. I took that as an opportunity. "So Annabeth," I began, "I get off of my shift in five minutes and thirty-five seconds. Would you like to go out with me for dinner?"

For about twenty seconds, she stared at me. "Uh, Annabeth?" Piper asked, waving her hand in front of her face. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "I'm okay. I would love to go out with you." My face lit up. "Okay," I replied,"Where do you want to go?" All of a sudden, a voice behind me said, "Jackson! Stop fraternizing with the customers!" It was my manager. "Sorry," I said quickly. Annabeth and Piper went to sit down. Three minutes and two orders later, I was done with my shift. I took off my apron and went out to meet Annabeth. "I have to get ready." She told me, "How about we go to the pizza place across the street in two hours?" "Beautiful and has a great taste in food." I thought. What I said was, "That sounds good. Meet you in two hours."

I went to my apartment and tried to comprehend what had happened. I had stopped a sex trafficking ring and scored a date with the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I couldn't believe what had happened. Two hours, three minutes, and seven seconds later, I was at the pizza place, waiting for Annabeth. Two minutes and twelve seconds later, she walked through the doors. She looked absolutely stunning. She had a gray dress on and was wearing pearls the same color as her eyes. She usually didn't have enough makeup on for me to notice, but she had on some gray eyeshadow and mascara.

"You look amazing," I said in awe as she approached the table. I stood up to offer her a seat. "Thank you!" She replied, "You don't look too bad yourself." She sat down. We stared at the menu. "What do you want?" Annabeth asked. "Whatever's fine with you," I replied. My mom taught me to always let the lady choose. "I like green olives on my pizza." She said. "That sounds tasty," I replied, wondering if it would actually be tasty. "Then that's what we'll get." She said. When the waitress came up, we ordered a large green olive pizza.

The pizza came in twenty minutes and thirty seconds. I grabbed a slice and tasted it. It was surprisingly good. "This is good!" I exclaimed, my mouth half-filled with pizza. Annabeth laughed. "Percy, you are such a goof!" I smiled. "Yeah, but I'm your goof," I said teasingly. She smiled back at me. "Yes, you are." She replied. We didn't say anything after that. After thirty minutes and twenty-eight seconds, we finished eating. "I can't believe this is happening," I remarked as we got up to leave. "You can't believe what?" She asked. "I can't believe that we stopped a sex trafficking ring and we're going out on a date."

She smiled. "I never thought we'd do that either." She kissed me and for fourteen seconds, it was the best time of my life.


End file.
